Attempts to Make Them Stay Are Futile
by Naomitrekkie
Summary: Missing scene from "Imperfection." Naomi says good bye to Mezoti, Azan, and Rebi.


**Attempts to Make Them Stay Are Futile**

**By: Naomitrekkie**

**Rating: K**

**Synopsis: Missing scene from "Imperfection." Naomi says good bye to Mezoti, Rebi, and Azan.**

**A/N: A quite one shot that's been bugging me since I had a weird trek dream last night (I'm known to do that quite often, actually) and I had to write it down. **

**Enjoy!**

Naomi had been dreading this day ever since she heard about it two weeks ago. Voyager had located a Wysanti vessel and hailed it, trying to find Azan and Rebi's parents, only to discover their father was the captain and their mother the head doctor. Ever since, they had been planning this little trade off and finally both ships managed to meet. Naomi knew when they first met this day would probably come, and she was happy Azan and Rebi were going home, but was it wrong for her to wish they'd never ran into that Wysanti ship?

True, at first she hadn't really liked Azan or Rebi that much, especially after they tried to cheat at kadis-kot, but she had gotten to know them better and thought of them as friends. Was it wrong for her to wish they'd stay? As the captain's assistant, she knew she couldn't let her emotions control her like this, after all, Captain Janeway wasn't trying to keep them there. Naomi knew they had a right to go home, because otherwise Voyager would be the most hypocritical ship ever, but she didn't want them to leave. When Icheb had left for the first time, it wasn't such a big deal, but if he decided to leave today, it would have been.

Which is why she was glad he decided to stay. She knew it was selfish of her, but the fact that Icheb was staying gave her hope that she'd still have a friend on Voyager, a friend at least somewhere near her age.

What she really, really, really hated the Wysanti ship for, however, was not for taking Rebi and Azan home, which they had a right to do, was offering to take the rest of the Borg children. Celes would never give up Kejal, not after finally finalizing the adoption papers, so she was staying, and Icheb had decided he wished to stay as well, but Mezoti had decided she would accept. Naomi couldn't be mad at her friend, but she could be mad at the Wysanti as much as she liked (as long as she didn't tell anyone or act improperly in front of them).

Now, she was headed to the cargo bay, going to say good bye. She wished with all her heart that they didn't have to leave, but since it was happening, she knew trying to stay in denial would be futile. Simply thinking the Borg phrases she had accumulated usually brought a smile to her face, but now it only made her feel worse.

When she finally got to the cargo bay doors, she hesitated, then walked forward. As the large doors opened, she entered into silence, and she began to worry that she was too late. It was way to quiet. She was tempted to ask the computer for their locations but stopped, not wanting to hear that they were no longer aboard the ship. She stood there, near the entrance, waiting for some sound to acknowledge someone else.

She heard someone move and she released the breath she didn't even know she had been holding. She walked toward it and found Azan and Rebi walking towards her.

"Hey," she said to them, trying to smile, at least a little.

"Hello," the both said.

"I, uh, I came to say good bye and to bring you these," she said, handing them each a colorfully wrapped gift.

"What is it?" Azan asked.

"Open it and you'll see."

They did and found some green and orange kadis-kot pieces which had been signed. They looked down at them, confused.

"What good does a few pieces of a game serve?" Rebi asked.

"These pieces are some of the ones Icheb knocked off the table when we played that first game. I, uh, signed them and got Icheb to the same."

"How will you be able to play if you are missing pieces?" Azan asked.

"I replicated some replacement pieces. I just want you guys to have something to remember me by."

Looking at each other, although not needing to, Azan and Rebi communicated telepathically. Then Azan reached into his bag and took out two cubes.

"Then we want you to have these," he said, handing them to Naomi.

"They're perfect 1/1000th replicas of a Borg cube," Rebi explained.

Naomi took carefully, smiling, her eyes wet with tears of joy.

"Thank you both. I'm gonna miss you," she said, giving them each a hug.

"We'll miss you too, Naomi," Rebi said, although she knew he spoke for both of them.

"We must be going now," Azan said and Naomi's face fell slightly, "however, Mezoti requires assistance with her packing."

Naomi knew how to take a hint, but waited until they had left the cargo bay and the doors had closed before heading back to Mezoti.

"Hey," she said, causing Mezoti to look up from her now closed bag.

"Hey," she mirrored.

"I came to say good bye," she told her. "And I brought you something."

"Really?" Mezoti asked, curious. She walked over to Naomi, leaving her bag out on the floor.

"Yeah," Naomi said, carefully placing Azan and Rebi's cubes on the nearest cargo shelf. She took out a gift wrapped in purple wrapping paper from her bag, and handed it to Mezoti. Mezoti opened it wordlessly and smiled when she saw it.

"I hope you like it. I know you like bugs and that you've probably read all the information in the database, but I made you a book of all my favorite, interesting bugs. I illustrated it myself."

"I love it, Naomi. Thank you. I, too, have something for you."

"Really?" Naomi asked, curious.

"Yeah. I didn't wrap it, but I want you to have this," Mezoti said, getting a transparent cube with glowing bugs inside off the shelf. "I know you'll take care of them."

"I promise I will Mezoti," she said, taking them, then putting the case on the shelf carefully. Neither said anything, and the need to keep Mezoti from leaving was eating her inside.

"I really wish you weren't going, Mezoti."

"I know, but I have to."

"I know, I know. Some Wysanti custom has you and Azan bonded. I still wish you could stay."

"So do I. I can't say that I hate leaving, because I do want to go live with the Wysanti and one day marry Azan, but I love it here on Voyager and you are my best friend."

"You'll make new friends, Mezoti. You're a fun person."

"As will you," Mezoti said, knowing Naomi was feeling worse about this than anyone.

"Yeah, sure. And who will I befriend? Kejal's only a baby and everyone else it so much older than me."

"There's Icheb," Mezoti said, reminded her of their other remaining ex-Borg friend, "besides, you have other friends. Seven, Neelix, Tom, and lots of other people."

"Yeah, but they're all like my family. I like them and have fun, but you're my _best friend_, Mezoti. There's a big difference. I can't talk to the adults like I can talk to you."

"Maybe not, but you can talk to Icheb."

"Not about everything."

"Like what?"

"Like how cute I think he is."

"OK, so you can't talk to him about _everything_ but we can still chat on subspace for a while and then we can send letter over data streams. It might take a little longer to get them, but we won't loose touch, I promise."

"I'm holding you to that," Naomi said, then pulled her into a hug.

They stood like that for a while, tears threatening to fall.

"I'm gonna miss you, Mezoti."

"I will miss you too, Naomi."

With that, they stood there hugging in silence, until the cargo bay doors opened to admit Seven. The two girls broke apart and without saying a word, Mezoti picked up her bag and walked out of the cargo bay with Seven. She turned back to Naomi just outside the door and waved, then turned the corner and vanished from Naomi's line of sight. Naomi waved back until the doors closed, leaving her alone.

End

**So what do you think? Please comment whether you like it or not. I want to know what you think.**


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